The present invention relates to a method for transferring images onto substrates and more particularly to an improved method of transferring single color or multicolored images onto substrates quickly and inexpensively, and to produce permanent highly desirable images on such substrates pleasing to the eye.
It has long been highly desirable to provide images on substrates. Plaques and other wall hangings, ornamental shirts and other clothing, license plates, and ornamental craft items have all been made by transferring images onto substrates. In the past, images have been transferred onto substrates by using masks, etching, photocopying, ink and dye sublimation, and ink jet, laser and other printing techniques.
Masks have been placed over substrates and color has been applied to the substrate through the mask to recreate performed images. In this manner, a performed image is transferred onto the substrate. In the most sophisticated mask processes. the substrate is prepared and coated with a photo resistant coating. Photographically an image is placed on the coating, the coating is developed leaving a mask on the substrate. The substrate is then etched and/or colored, and the mask and/or the remainder of the colored pigment is removed from the substrate. These processes usually include many process steps which are time consuming. While masks made by photographic means have become more prevalent and the materials from which they are made have become less expensive and more available, their use is still cumbersome and not as quick or inexpensive as other transfer methods. Additionally, etching materials are usually acidic and have restrictions in commercial operations as to their disposal and use by government regulations.
While pigments have been available and improved, it has been difficult to transfer multicolored images to substrates using any mask or etching process. Any such multicolored transfer process would include multiple masks and multiple pigments and a highly complex time consuming and expensive process. It is therefore highly desirable to provide an improved method for transferring images onto substrates. It is also highly desirable to provide a new and improved transfer process for transferring both single color and multicolor images to substrates which would be less expensive, less cumbersome, less time consuming and more inexpensive than existing mask or etching transfer processes. It is also highly desirable to provide an improved method for transferring images on to substrates which does not require the images to be recreated on the substrate.
The photocopy process used in most office photocopiers readily transfer both black and white and multicolored images to other substrates. Each of these processes utilize a positioning of pigmented toner onto the substrate in the exact form of the image, usually by electrostatic charge and then processing the pigment into a fixed image on the substrate, usually by the application of heat. Laser printers utilize a similar process. Such a process has less steps, is less complex and less costly than prior mask or etching processes. Therefore it is also highly desirable to provide an improved method of transferring single color and multicolor images onto substrates which has all of the advantages of a photocopy process, and all of the flexibility of a mask or etching process, but none of the disadvantages of either process.
Sublimation of inks or dyes from one medium to another has also been used to transfer images to substrates. Some printers have utilized such a process. Thus, multicolored sublimation inks and dyes and thermal sublimation papers are available. However, the sublimation process has not been preferred due to the limitations of the dyes and dye colors and the necessity of special transfer papers having dye acceptable coatings thereon and heat resistant substrates which are not as highly regarded as other transfer papers and substrates. Thus, it is also highly desirable to provide an improved method to transfer images to a substrate which has all of the advantages of sublimation in the number of steps, the cost of materials, the length of time and complexity of the method, but which utilizes the pigments of mask and photocopy processes and has all of the flexibility of a mask or photocopy process, and none of the disadvantages.
Most ink jet and laser printers are capable of producing detailed single and multicolored images onto substrates. Such printers like photocopy processes and sublimation processes, each require the substrate on which the image is to be transferred to be positioned relative to the ink jets or the original image within close tolerances. This usually requires the substrate to be advanced by a series of rollers. Such limits the substrate in most of the processes to thin sheet materials and usually flexible materials of a uniform size and thickness such as paper or fabric or plastic sheets. Thus it is also highly desirable to provide an improved method of transferring single color and multicolor images onto substrates which has all of the advantages of inkjet and laser printers, but none of the disadvantages.
Most present image transfer methods, especially onto complex substrates (i.e., not paper thin), require several time consuming operations to produce a substrate with a single color or multicolor design permanently affixed thereto, require a high level of skill only obtainable at high wages are costly to perform, or do not have much versatility. It is therefore also highly desirable to provide an improved method for transferring single color or multicolored images on to substrates which can be accomplished by low skill workers and customized.
Printing with permanent pigments onto substrates has always been expensive when producing one or limited quantities of customized printed substrates. Silk screening is a method often used, but silk screening is not cost effective for single copies nor does it have the ability to produce the fine detail. Thus, it is also highly desirable to produce an improved method of transferring images onto substrates which is less expensive than current methods, fully adaptable to single or limited copy quantities at reasonable prices, and produces the detail of photography or photocopying.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved method for transferring single color or multicolored images onto substrates, permanently having the detail of photography in two simple steps performable with little skill, relatively quickly and easily.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved method for transferring single color and multicolored images onto substrates which is not limited to thin sheet or flexible thin sheet materials, but may accommodate an unlimited range of sheet materials and oddly shaped objects.
It is also highly desirable to provide an improved method of transferring single color and multicolored images onto substrates which are not limited to the positioning of either the original or the substrate dimensionally relative to copier or printer apparatus within small tolerances or the nature of the substrate.
Finally, it is highly desirable to provide an improved method of transferring single color or multicolored images onto substrates which has all of the above features.